Featuring live sound scores by Joseph Clayton Mills and Marvin Tate.
In collaboration with Chicago Film Archives and Experimental Sound Studio, Rebuild Foundation’s Black Cinema House presents KINOSONIK, a pilot project of live music/sound performances with cinema. Two pairs of collaborating sound/music artists, selected by ESS, will each spend 4 to 6 weeks studying and working with several short films selected from CFA’s extensive vault. The artist pairs — Tomeka Reid & Olivia Block and Marvin Tate & Joseph Clayton Mills — have been selected because of their substantive and exemplary artistic accomplishments to date, their commitment to risk-taking exploratory approaches to sound and music, their long-standing experience in collaboration, and their interest in integrating their various sonic approaches with moving image.
Structured as two mini-residencies, the pilot program results in two live performances by each pair, one at BCH and one at ESS. For audiences, it promises to be a rare and deeply engaging experience of live sound with cinema, given the unique and sophisticated talents of the artists, and their commitment to rigorous improvisational and compositional approaches.
Films selected for KINOSONIK #1:
Hans Graff “Super Editor” (Rhodes Patterson, 1959, 16mm transfer to video)
A hypnotic look at Hans Graff (1921-1990) hard at work in his Chicago near-north studio, Cine-Graff Motion Picture Service. Hans was a film editor and producer, who specialized in industrial films. He worked as an editor for the television shows “Zoo Parade” and “Wild Kingdom.”
Chicago Loop Crowds ‘59 (Rhodes Patterson, 1959, 16mm transfer to video)
A man navigates the bustling streets of downtown Chicago, getting lost in the crowd.
Country Mile (JoAnn Elam, 1970s, 8mm transfer to video)
Experimental filmmaker JoAnn Elam guides (or limits) our eye down a wooded path.
Rooftop Road (Roger Hammond, 1977, 16mm transfer to video)
A montage of shots from Chicago’s major transportation system, the elevated CTA. We watch the train travel through various Chicago neighborhoods and seasons to a soundtrack of train noises, piano and blues. Originally with sound and distributed by Chicago-based educational films importer & exporter, International Film Bureau.
Allegro (Lawrence Janiak, 1960, 16mm transfer to video)
A direct animation film utilizing paint and scratches. Renowned Canadian animator, Norman McLaren (who worked primarily on 35mm film), declared the film “the best film I’ve seen drawn on 16mm.” Originally set to a classical score.
Super Up (Kenji Kanesaka, 1966, 16mm transfer to video)
Kenji Kanesaka, one of the founding members of the “Film Independent” group and the Japan Filmmakers Co-op in Tokyo, was commissioned by Chicago producer Marv Gold to direct Super Up in 1965. The film is an exceptional and striking critique of structures of racial and class segregation, consumerism and lust, sexual energy and desire, and the domination of (and link between) advertising, consumption, sexuality, and the police. Originally with sound.
Popcorn (Jack Behrend, 1953, 16mm transfer to video)
Extended slow motion of popcorn dancing in a pan of oil.
Noon at St. Clair & Chicago #2 (August 17, 1960, Rhodes Patterson, 16mm transfer to video)
Footage of pedestrians walking in downtown Chicago with unexpected calming effects.
Going Places excerpt (JoAnn Elam, 1970s, 8mm transfer to video)
Recognizable marathon runners deconstruct into colorful forms.
Dancing Colors (Sol Falon, 1968, 16mm transfer to video)
Exactly as the title suggests, painterly direct animation techniques dance across the screen.
Featured Musicians for KINOSONIK #1:
Joseph Clayton Mills is a musician, artist, and writer who lives and works in Chicago, where his collaborators have included Adam Sonderberg and Steven Hess (as Haptic), Michael Vallera (as Maar), Sylvain Chauveau, Jason Stein, Michael Pisaro, and Olivia Block, among many others. His text-based paintings, assemblages, and sound installations have been exhibited in Chicago, New York, and Europe. In 2012, ESS hosted his exhibition The Patient, a series of work based on the final writings of Franz Kafka; a CD and book based on the same material was release by Entr’acte in 2013. His other recordings have appeared on numerous labels, including FSS, Bloodlust, Entr’acte, and Another Timbre.
Marvin Tate is a performance poet, lyricist, author, and visual artist. His work has appeared on Def-Jam Poetry, This American Life, PBS, and in various venues around the world. His most recent collaboration is with the singer/songwriter Tim Kinsella in a project titled Tim Kinsella Sings the Songs of Marvin Tate by Leroy Bach Featuring Angel Olsen, released on Joyful Noise Records (2013). Tate is also the founder and ringleader of the legendary funk band D-settlement, a Funkadelic-infused band that received a vast amount of critical acclaim in the late nineties to the early aughts.
Seating is limited, so we ask that attendees RSVP in advance. Please note that we cannot guarantee seats for attendees who do not RSVP.
KINOSONIK #1 will also feature a performance at Experimental Sound Studio (5925 North Ravenswood Ave.) on Saturday, November 15th at 8pm.
KINOSONIK is made possible by an Artstour & Live Music grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.